A plan to separate asylum seekers according to their refugee status has inflamed tensions at the Manus Island detention centre in Papua New Guinea, sparking fears of a confrontation between security guards and detainees.

The PNG government has confirmed it intends to "accommodate the cohorts separately" to prepare them to leave the centre after June 30.

Refugees are expected to resist the plan, fearing for their safety if they are released into the PNG community, while those whose claims are rejected insist they cannot return to the country they fled.

Fairfax Media has been told that the small number of refugees who have been resettled in the country's second-biggest city, Lae, have witnessed violence and say they are not safe. At least one is believed to have returned to Manus Island.

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Ms Gaegaming said all refugee status "initial assessments" for asylum seekers would be completed by March 31, with final determinations, including independent review for negative cases, by June 30.

It is unclear what the announcement means for around 60 asylum seekers who have refused to accept processing in PNG in protest at being forcibly transported there from Australia.

"The purpose of the Manus Regional Processing Centre is for the processing of refugee claims. That processing will soon be finished," Ms Gaegaming said.

The Sydney-based Refugee Action Coalition has expressed alarm about the plans, saying a majority of the more than 900 detainees have already decided they will not cooperate with any attempt to force them to move compounds.

The coalition's Ian Rintoul claims the PNG government is attempting to resolve the detention and resettlement issues before a Supreme Court challenge to the Manus Island detention centre, scheduled for the end of April.

One of the witnesses to the killing of Reza Barati during riots at the centre in February 2014, Benham Satah, has urged fellow detainees to remain calm and peaceful. "Don't have fear. Don't resist anything," he wrote in a Facebook post.

Don't have fear. Don't resist anything

Mr Satah says the forced separation of asylum seekers from those who have supported them will exacerbate the deterioration in the mental health of those he says are already at breaking point.

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young has called on the Turnbull government to clarify what is happening inside the centre.

"We should be processing people's claims for asylum and bringing those who need protection to Australia, so that they can integrate into the community and put their lives back together in safety," Senator Hanson-Young said.